Man who got homophobic Valentine at work gets new card signed by Justin Trudeau

Howard Alexander - News Editor

Signatures of various members of parliament and the Prime Minister adorn a booklet sent to Degas Sikorski, an Edmonton area man who received a Valentine at work last month that was defaced with a homophobic message.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

March 13, 2016 - 2:34 PM

ST. ALBERT, Alta. - An Alberta man who got a Valentine at work defaced with a homophobic slur has received a much nicer card signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The card, which Degas Sikorski received on Saturday, contains messages of support from the prime minister as well as cabinet ministers and MPs.

"Know that your friends outnumber the haters by millions, and I am one of your friends," Trudeau wrote in the card, which was delivered to Sikorski by Edmonton Centre MP Randy Boissonnault.

A photo of the Valentine that Sikorski, 20, of St. Albert received last month at a party supplies store in Edmonton caused an online furor after his mother posted it to Facebook and explained what happened.

She said a supervisor at the Party City store made Valentines for all the staff, but when her son picked his up, it had a hate message on it.

The company said after the incident that it would investigate the matter.

Sikorski said the card from Trudeau and other MPs also contained photos of the prime minister signing it.

"It was a beautiful card," Sikorski said. "There were so many pictures and so many people wanted to sign it, they had to add extra pages."

"Canada went from being this big, wide-open country to feeling like Ottawa and Ontario were right next to Alberta."

Sikorski said he has quit Party City. He's since accepted a job from Starbucks that was offered by a manager who reached out to him on Facebook after hearing his story.

He said he's dropped his plan of pursuing a police investigation, not wishing the person who defaced his Valentine to suffer a criminal record.

"Whoever did it knows it was wrong," Sikorski said.

Sikorski said he's still pursuing a human rights investigation against his former employer.

The company issued a statement at the time saying it did not condone what happened and was committed to creating a fair and inclusive work environment.

OPINION Editor, This is a busy time of year, but I find it’s also a time of reflection, particularly as January marks the end of my two-year term as Chair and my 10 years serving on the Board of Interior